Insulated faced wall



All@ 26, 1958 I J. B. COMPTON 2,848,887

INSULATED FACED WALL Filed Feb. 24, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet l g5 o @c o a NIU@ 1N V EN TOR. JERRY Compra/J Aug. 26, 1958 .1. B. COMPTON INSULATED FACED WALL 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 24, 1955 M U R m P M mw E V o mm W H M J Aug. 26, 1958 J. 7B. COMPTON INSULATED FACED WALL 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 24, 1955 INVENTOR. JERRY B. Compro/J 'WM/wf M Aug. 26, 1958 J. E. COMPTON 2,348,887

INSULATED FACED WALL Filed Feb. 24, 1955 4 sheets-sheet 4 IN V EN TOR. ls/PR Y 5. Compro United States Patent O INSULATED FACED WALL Jerry B. Compton, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application February 24, 1955, Serial No. 490,358 l 4 Claims. (Cl. 72-28) My invention relates to expansion joints for use with heat-insulating covers on hot-water tanks, boilers, steam pipes, ducts, flues, smokestack lining, breeching for stacks and ovens, and concrete and brick work generally, where wide ranges of temperature may be encountered. The invention embodies an improvement upon and certain modifications of that described and claimed in my application Serial No. 455,950, tiled September 14, 1954.

An object of my invention is to provide an expansion joint structure of such form that it will readily expand and contract with materials of the character mentioned, as such material is expanded and contracted through temperature changes.

Another object of my invention is to provide, in connection with heat-insulating blocks or slabs, means for maintaining uniformity of spacing between the slabs, and resisting shifting of such slabs relative to one another to such extent as will result in excessively wide spaces between their opposed edges and consequent loss of heat.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved form and arrangements of splice members for uniting the expansion joints that extend angularly relative to one another, whether in a common plane or in planes at right angles to each other.

As shown in thevaccompanying drawings,

Figure l is a perspective View showing one form of the invention, in a partially completed structure;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing expansion joint elements disposed at right angles to each other, together with splicing members that serve to interlock the expansion strips and their cap elements where they meet with one another at various angles;

Fig. 3 is a view showing the manner in which two expansion strips are connected and firmly held together in a common plane and at right angular relationship to each other;

Fig. 4 is a view showing the manner in which the joint is employed in connection with insulating wall members that are disposed in circular or semi-circular arrangement about a pipe;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of one element of the joint expansion strip of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a View, on an enlarged scale, showing the corner splice of Fig. 3 more in detail;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the centrally-positioned splice member of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 shows, in detail, one of the splice members of Fig. 2 before it is bent to engage cap strips which are respectively disposed in vertical and horizontal planes;

Fig. 9 shows the strip of Fig. 8 after bending;

Fig. l shows a modification of the strip member of Fig.

Fig. ll shows expansion elements for three relatively angular joints at a corner;

Fig. l2 is a view on the line XII-XII of Fig. 1l, and

Figs. 13 and 14 are perspective views of the splice elements of Fig. l1.

My joint structure is adapted for use in connection Fpice with insulating bricks or slabs 9 of conventional form that are applied to the exterior surfaces of containers or other bodies that are to be heat-insulated. Owing to the wire ranges of expansion and contraction, calking or filling material interposed between opposed edges of blocks of this character will not maintain a close tit with the edges or side walls of the blocks, under repeated temperature changes. Also, the blocks will sometimes shift relative to one another, so that there will be non-uniform spacing between the blocks with consequent excessive spaces and ruptured or weakened joints at some locations.

Instead of simply placing calking material within and overlying the joint, I provide a metal joint structure that will not only maintain the blocks in approximately their original relative positions, but will more effectively seal the joints and prevent forming of cracks or iissures that would allow escape of heat.

When the blocks 9 are placed in position upon a container or the like that is to be insulated, certain of their opposed edges are spaced apart slightly to permit of expansion without buckling.

ln Fig. 1, I show the manner in which the expansion joint is employed in connection with the bricks or slabs 9 interlocked with a wire mesh 10 and covered by plaster 11. Spaces of considerable width are present at various points between the bricks 9, as indicated at 12, to allow for expansion under temperature changes. In order to seal this space against the escape of heat and to prevent accumulation of dirt therein, I provide two sheet metal strips 13, one of which is shown more clearly in Fig. 5. They are bent or loosely folded to provide for contraction under mechanical forces that are exerted through expansion of the bricks 9. The members 13 comprise the main body portion of the expansion joint and will be made of steel or other sheet material that will withstand the high temperatures and whose bends or folds will assume their normal positions shown in Fig. l, when pressure is removed therefrom, upon contraction of the bricks 9, as they become cooled.

Each member 13 has a wing 14 and a flange 15. The wings are fastened to the adjacent bricks 9 by staples 16 or the like, and are provided with holes 17 into which a covering layer 18 of plastic material such as an asbestos magnesium mixture or kaolin will protrude somewhat to interlock the layer 18 with the wings. Canvas 18a or other thin coating covers the layer 18. Also, tongues 19 are provided on the wings, for hooked engagement with wire mesh 20 that will become partially embedded in the layer 1S.

A cap strip 21 serves to hold the two expansion members 13 in close fitting relation to each other and to prevent the escape of heat and the entry of dirt between these members 13. The strip can be made of steel or other suitable material.

In order to eect a close seal at the meeting ends of joint strips that are disposed at right angles to each other, and to firmly lock them together, I provide a cap member 23 of angular form in the manner shown in Fig. l, the strip being similar to the cap strip 21 but having a notch 24 formed therein as shown in Fig. 6, to facilitate bending of the same to right angular shape.

An alternative arrangement is shown in Fig. 3, wherein two cap strips 21 which are at right angles to one another are connected by a splice member 25 of angular form which may be shaped from a strip of steel or the like in the same manner as the angle of Fig. 6. The splice angle 25, of course, gives a joint having greater strength than the joint at 23 of Fig. l.

Where expansion joints at right angles to one another intersect in generally crossed relation, I provide a splice member 26 of sheet metal or the like having four arms each of which has telescopic fit with a cap strip 21 of t 3,' the adjacent expansion members 13. These arms not only cover breaks in longitudinal joints where they intersect, but firmly hold the various expansion joint members in .alignment with one another. In forming the member 26 from a at sheet of steel or the like, notches are provided therein yat 27 (Fig. 7) to facilitate bending theledges of'each arm to form the flanges 2S that interlock with the cap strips 21.

When connection is to be made at a corner where two joint strips 13 and their respective cap members 21 are in walls that are at right angles, a splice strip 29 isV provided, as shown in Fig. 2, the member 29`being formed from'a blank that is notched as at 30 in Fig. 8, tovfacilitate bending of the same into angular form as shown in Figs. 2 and 9. This splice member has telescopic engagementwith the horizontal and vertical cap strips 21.

In Fig. 10, is shown a joint strip 31 that corresponds to the joint strip member 13 of Fig. k5, but in this case, notches 32 are provided in the fold of the strip for the venting of gaseous pressures. n

`The joint can be incorporated also in insulating coverings of circular form that cover a pipe or conduit 33, as indicated in Fig. 4. In most cases, the bent slabs or curved blocks 34 will be of semi-circular form and two joints will be provided. In each case, the joint strip 13 will be of approximately the form shown in Fig. 1, but with the wings-14 bent to arcuate form to lie on the faces of the bent slabs 34 and being overlaid by the outer plastic layers 35.

Referring now to Figs. 1l to 14, I show an arrangement lfor Vsealing three joints where two vertical walls and a horizontal wall meet at a corner of the structure to be insulated. In this case, cap strips 21 correspond to the cap strips of the other gures and connect the members 13a in the same manner. The wings 14 extend between slabs or bricks 37 and 38 as do the wings 14 in Fig. l, which lie between the layers 9 and 18.

A splice member 39 of generally Y-form and having its arms inturned to form flanges 40 has telescopic it v with the cap strips 21, to thereby maintain a tight joint at the corner where the two vertical walls and the top wall meet.

I claim as my invention:

l. An insulated structure comprising a base wall and a plurality of slab-like insulating members disposed thereover, expansion joints between the adjacent edges of said members, said joints comprising a pair of resilient occupying a common horizontal plane substantially parallel to but spaced outwardly from the planelof the wings, a cap strip overlying the liange-like members and having its edges inturned into snug iitting relation with the flange members, thereby holding them tightly together, and means connecting the wings to the slab faces,'

there being clearance normally existing between the slab members and the strips at their fold lines and close engagement between the abutting edges of the slab members and the flared sides of the strips at areas adjacent the wings.

2. An insulated structure as recited in claim l, with layers of cementitious material interposed between the wings and the cap strip.

3. An insulated structure as recited in claim 2, with wire mesh embedded in and reinforcing said cementitious material, said mesh being connected to said wings.

4. An insulated structure as recited in claim 2, and which includes fibrous protective sheets disposed against the outer faces of the cementitious layers and extending beneath the cap strip.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 205,188 Horrie .lune 25, 1878 517,701 Knower Apr. 3, 1894 837,303 Hunter Dec. 4, 1906 1,357,713 Lane Nov. 2, 1920 1,813,909 Brainard et al July 14, 1931 2,029,817 Fegles Feb. 4, 1936 2,161,333 Capouch June 6, 1939` 2,198,084 Jacobson Apr. 23, 1940 2,656,902 Gotshall Oct. 27, 1953 OTHER REFERENCES Engineering Record, May 6, 1916, page 615. 

